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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Will or would

What is the difference between 'will' and 'would' here?

See if they will help you.
See if they would help you.
  

Top answer

"Would" is past tense; it won't work with the imperative. "

— Deadrat

  • "Would" is past tense; it won't work with the imperative.
  • "
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6 Answers
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"Would" is past tense; it won't work with the imperative. You'll need a past sense for the verb:

"I went to see if they would help you."
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Anonymous What is the difference between 'will' and 'would' here?See if they will help you.See if they would help you.
Thank you. Can't 'would' convey a hypothetical occurrence of the situation that the sentence implies with 'will'?
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I don't think there's a hypothetical occurrence in your example. "See if they will help you" is a command to find out whether they're willing to help. Help may be forthcoming or not, but you won't know until you check. "Would" will assist when hypotheticals or conditions contrary to fact arise:

"Were they to help you, you would be a lucky man."
"If they had helped you, you
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deadratI don't think there's a hypothetical occurrence in your example. "See if they will help you" is a command to find out whether they're willing to help. Help may be forthcoming or not, but you won't know until you check. "Would" will assist when hypotheticals or conditions contrary to fact arise:"Were they to help you, you would be a lucky man.""If they had helped yo
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deadratYes.
Thank you very much!
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